Arizona State Basketball: 3 keys to beat Saint Mary’s in Hall of Fame showcase
By John Vaccaro
Arizona State Basketball gave us a glimpse of what they’re capable of in their blowout win over Georgia on Saturday.
It was a defensive masterclass against one of the nation’s highest-scoring teams. The fact that was able to shoot poorly and still run up the score on Georgia in the second half shows just how strong Arizona State Basketball’s defense is.
The win was their 5th in a row, moving them to 8-2 and should put them right into the conversation to break into the top 25 (even if the voters didn’t agree with me this week). Now they’ll take on a dangerous Saint Mary’s team in a Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase at the Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix.
Saint Mary’s has also recovered from an early loss to get themselves back into the top-25 discussion (they got 13 votes this week). That loss to Winthrop was a really bad look for the Gaels, but they have since recovered by winning eight of their last nine games, with the lone loss coming on a neutral court against Dayton and one of those wins coming against a Utah State team who is also currently getting top 25 votes.
This is one of two tough non-conference matchups they get to play to boost their status before they start their conference schedule and try to unseat Gonzaga as WCC champions.
Whoever wins this game should find themselves right inside the top 25 when the rankings come out again next Monday. Here are three things Arizona State needs to do to get the win in this matchup.